Setts



I (No Model.)

S. T. 8L W. S. THOMAS.

METHOD OE EINISHING WOVEN WIRE EABRIGS.

' No. 888,781. Patented July 24, 1888.

Gta eJJ'eJ. In mentors:

N. mens, Nvu-mmm, wnhmgm u. cA

UNITED STATES ATENT EEicE.

SAMUEL T. THOMAS AND WINFIELD S. THOMAS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHU- SETTS.

METHOD OF FINISHING WOVEN-WIRE FABRICS.

SPECIFICA'IIGN forming part o Letters Patent No. 386,761, dated July 2e, 1888.

Original application filed February 28, 1834, Serial No. 122.278. Divided and this application filed January 2l, 158:. Serial No.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, SAMUEL T. THOMAS and W'INEIELD S. THOMAS, citizens of the United States, residing at Boston,in the county 5 of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Finishing XVoven Vire Fabrics, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accomro panying drawing.

Our invention relates to a certain improved method of finishing wovenwire fabrics so as to render the surfaces thereof smooth and flat, said method consisting in straining or stretching such fabrics by pressing them between two pairs of rollers, the second pair of which rotates faster than the first pair.

In practicing our invention we prefer to finish the wovenwire fabrics in the manner above 2o stated before they finally leave the looms on which they are Wolven by pressing the fabrics between the take-u p roll and another roll which is adjacent thereto, and then pressing the same between a second pair of rolls, the surfaces of which rotate faster than the surfaces of the take-up roll and the said roll adjacent thereto.

The accompanying drawing is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a loom fitted for the practice of our invention; but as the said loom,

3o which is more particularly adapted for Weaving wire fabrics, is fully shown and described in ourapplication, Serial No.122, 278, filed February 2S, 15S-1, of which this application is a division, it need not be herein described, ex-

eepting so far as is necessary for the proper .understanding of the present invention. The said loom is provided at its front with a takeup roll, 124, and with a second roll, 125,which is also, in a certai n sense, a take-up roll. These 4o rolls 124c and 125 have hard surfaces, and are provided with gears, which are connected by an intermediate gear or pinion, 126, the gear on the roll 125 having alesser number of teeth (two less in the present instance) than the gear on the roll 124, and as these two rolls are both of the same diameter it is obvious that the surA face of the roll 125 will rotate or move faster than the surface of the roll 124. These rolls 124 and 125 may be positively rotated by any suitable mechanism, preferably by such as is fully shown and described in our application hereinbefore referred to; and adjacent to these rolls are two hard-surfaced pressing-rolls, 127 and 128, which rotate by frictional Contact With the positively-driven rolls or with the fabrics passing between them and the said positivelydriven rolls. The woven-wire fabric 129, after passing the lay 50, runs over a guide-roll,130, thence around the take-up roll 12l, and between the latter and its adjacent roll 127, passing from the latter roll around the roll 125, and between said roll and the prcssingroll 128, and around the last-named roll to the place of delivery, as indicated in the drawing.

As the surfaces of the second pair of rolls 125 and 12S travel slightly faster than the surfaces of the first pair of rolls 124 and 127, a considerable strain or tension is given the fabric, and this, in conjunction with the pressure which the fabric receives in passing between the hard meeting faces of the rolls, produces a finishing effect upon the fabric analogous to calendering, whereby the surfaces ofthe wire goods are leveled under a uniform tension and pressure and the appearance and finish ofthe same greatly improved.

Although we prefer to finish woven-wire fabrics according to our above described method before they finally leave the looms on which they are woven,we do not wish to be understood as confining ourselves to this method of practicing our invention, as woven-wire fabrics may be finished according to our improved method after they leave the looms and on machines having two pairs of straining and pressing rolls-such as are herein shown and described-rotating at different speeds.

Ve claim- 1. The method herein described of straiw naily leave the looms, said method consisting in pressing the said fabrics between the takenp roll and another roll, both of which have hard surfaces, and then pressing the same be- 5 tween a second pair of hard-surfaced rolls,the

surfaces of which move faster than the snrface of the take-np roll, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof We aix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

SAMUEL T. THOMAS. WINFIELD SI THOMAS.

Witnesses:

RALPH W. E. HOPPER, EBEN HUTOHINSON. 

